


Runic Fighters

by RunusBrewblade



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: D&D, F/F, F/M, Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:49:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24634108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunusBrewblade/pseuds/RunusBrewblade
Summary: These are the stories of Runus Brewblade as he acquires each member of his Runic Fighter team.
Kudos: 1





	1. Astrid the Barbarian

Rain. Runus hated scouting in the rain. It wasn’t the fact that he hated rain but that it made traveling difficult for him. It muddies the ground, soaked his clothes, would splatter into his eyes, and just made traveling in the Silverpines Valley rough for him.   
Still, he couldn’t do anything about it so with a heavy sigh he pushed himself up to a large rock jutting out of the ground. Glancing around he saw no sign of life in this dreary looking landscape.   
“Torval is a fucking idiot. Gnolls in the Silverpines. I bet that drunken idiot mistook a few wolves for them. It doesn’t help that Talila is jumping at every shadow now. She’s supposed to be the Tribe’s shaman and yet she can’t tell if there are Gnolls here or not even with her magic. Now I got to scout around looking for any sign of the rumored Gnolls in the freezing ass rain!” he grumbled to himself.   
Sitting down he set his iron battle ax next to him. He did his best to bush the water out of his fur clock but it was slowly starting to get heavy on his shoulders.   
Letting out another sigh, his dark green eyes glancing out towards the landscape, looking for any sign of movement or even a trace of life.  
Life in the Silverpines wasn’t an easy one. The whole valley was rolling hills, with patches of trees and lakes. Along either side were huge mountains that would rise above the clouds that were halfway covered in pine trees that would turn silver during the winter.  
It was his home but only stubborn and hardy people would consider making it their home. Not like the Empire to the south or the scattered Kingdoms to the east and west. None of them would ever think about living in such a place.   
“Fuck this I’m getting cold and hungry and there are no signs of any Gnolls around here.”   
Runus was about to pick up his ax but something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He took a moment to peer out he noticed a bit of black smoke rising out from the thick pine forest to the west of him.  
“Fuck…..please don’t let it be gnolls.” 

The hike over was taxing and annoying. The ground was muddy with rocks and thick roots poking out between the trees. He nearly fell over a few times and part of him was willing to do anything to be out of this, even having to listen to Grood tell another one of his war stories.   
Just when he thought the hike would never end he broke through the forest and found himself on an abandoned caravan road, though he quickly discovered it wasn’t as abandoned as he thought it was.   
He found the source of the smoke. Two large wagons laid in the muddy road, the rain slowly putting the last patches of fire on them out.  
Spread around them were pieces of bodies. Men, women, even horses. He couldn’t see a single intact body from where he stood, just pieces of them scattered around in the blood-soaked mud. Part of him should have felt sick at the sight but strangely it didn’t faze him.  
“Fuck...what in the gods did this?” He spoke to himself, walking past a few mutilated bodies before squatting down to look for signs of tracks.  
Thankfully the mud was good for one thing. It told him who came through. Boot prints, horse prints, tracks from the wagons, and dozen of paw prints. Grood had taught him about different kinds of tracks and what to look for. At first glance, they looked like regular wolf prints but he quickly noticed they were walking on two legs and not four.   
“Gnolls….fuck guess the drunk wasn’t seeing things. Fucking great Gnolls and looks like a lot of them.” With a heavy sigh, Runus rose up and looked around the sides of the road.  
There was no sign of movement and it looked like the tracks were leading off further down the road. For the moment the Gnolls had left.  
“But what the hell are they doing? Gnolls never leave this much meat behind. They even left the wagons to burn. Grood said they were like raiders, taking what they could get their hands on and not waste anything.”   
Runus was about to move forward when his eye caught something that made him his blood turn to ice. Right by the body of a dead guard was a gnoll print three times bigger than the rest, the mud that held the impression was pure black like tar and he could smell something foul within it. He had heard stories about this from the Shaman and the elders of the clan. About monsters and beast that were massive and looked like they were carved out of the night sky. Monsters that no common weapon or man could slay. Void Beasts.   
“Oh, shit….fuck fuck. This can’t be happening. Why is there a Void Beast here?” Panic set into Runus. He glanced around with fanatic eyes, looking for any sign of movement or sounds. He had been told enough about Void Beast from Grood to fear them. How one alone could slaughter whole towns and could take on hundreds of warriors with no trouble. He hurried through the mud and the corpses that he almost didn’t see the tracks of a wagon going off-road and over a hill into the pine forest. He paused for a moment, looking down to see none of the Gnoll tracks following the wagon tracks. Did they miss it? Could it hold something that he could loot and bring back to the village? It was too good of a chance to pass up and any spare gold or weapons he could find would be a great help for the tribe. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he hurried down the hill into the thick of the pin forest. 

The wagon had traveled farther into the forest than Runus had expected. No wonder the gnolls never found it, it had gone all the way down the hill and slammed into a thick tree at the base of the hill. The wagon was barely in tack, its back wheels had fallen off and the front was crushed in. There was all manner of boxes and crates scattered around it. It was a good sign that nothing seems to have been taken yet.   
“Alright, a quick look and then I got to get out of here and back to the village.” Runus began to pop crates open with his ax that was on the ground, finding food, clothes, some broken bottles of wine, and a few boots. He was able to savage two small bottles with red liquid inside, maybe they were health potions. He made his way to the main wagon, seeing a large leather bag hanging out of the back. When he looked inside he notices it was pure black.  
“What the?” Carefully he put his hand into the bag, watching it disappear before he pulled it back out with no change. “Hmmmmm Maybe Seer Talilia will know what this is?” He threw the bag over his shoulder and looked inside the tattered wagon. It was mostly empty except for a small decorative box. It was made of deep redwood with gold metal-bound around it. There was a large lock on it but it was snapped in two making it useless now. He pulled the box towards him slowly opening to reveal a large blue gem inside. It was bigger than his fist and had a gold band around it but the band was broken and had cracks all around it.   
“Gods be praised looks like my luck is turning around. This thing looks like it would be worth a lot of gold, maybe enough to feed the tribe for a year.” Runus chuckled as he picked up the large gem but the moment he touched it began to glow and feel hot in his hand. Surprised by it he dropped it but instead of it falling to the ground the gem began to rise up and burn bright blue. The light was so intense Runus had to close and shield his face from it. As the light faded he slowly opened his eyes and stared in complete utter shock at what he saw. The gem was nowhere to be seen but in its place stood a woman that he almost mistook for a goddess.   
She was a slender woman standing almost up to his shoulder with flawless pale skin. She had long hair that seemed to be made of pure gold tied up in a large braid that went down to her shoulder blades. Her eyes shined like pure sapphires at him. Her golden lips curved into a smile. She was dressed in an assortment of gold and jewelry with bells wrapped around her waist, with a sheer blue fabric that showed off every inch of her body. She was perfection in his eyes, the kind of woman he always dreamed of being with one day in his life. He looked at her with awe until she snapped him out of it by speaking.   
“Hello, Master~ I am Astrid, your personal Runic. I hope to serve you well and bring you glory.” She smirked a little, taking a step forward and offering her hand to him.   
Runus was silent while looking at her. Slowly he took her hand and was surprised how strong she was when she pulled him to his feet with ease. He didn’t know what to say or do. She said she was a Runic but he didn’t know what that was.  
“Nice to meet you, Astrid. Sorry, but what is a Runic? What happened to that huge gem that I was holding just a moment ago?” He needed some answers.   
“That gem was my soul crystal. It reacted to your touch and I was summoned to serve you. As a Runic, it’s my duty to serve my master and aid him in any way that I can.” She straightens up while speaking, her voice filled with pride.   
“So your what like some sort of servant then?”  
“Oh, course Master. Runic live to serve their master. I see I was lucky that my Master is a handsome one.” She threw him a wink while her smile grew  
Runus could feel his cheeks burn at the remark. He still had no idea what was going on though.  
“Ummm Master I do you mind if I change? I am unsure why I am in such clothes but I would rather be in something less..flimsy.” Astrid began to cover herself up with her arms upon realizing what she was wearing.  
“Oh um sure yeah. There are some extra clothes in the wagon. Look around and take what you want.” He tries not to stare but it was hard with how stunning she was.   
She quickly hurried into the wagon, pulling the tattered covers over the back to shield herself. Minutes passed until she climbed out. She was no longer in the blue sheer outfit but wore a leather armor of sorts. It composed of leather braces and knee-high boots. Two thick straps of leather went over her shoulder, covering her breast and were tied down with a thick belt that held two leather pieces to cover her crotch and ass. She wore a leather headband as well. While it did cover more of her body it didn’t make her any less sexy than she looked before. Only now she looked like a stunning warrior woman.   
“Ahhh much better. So then Master where are we off to now?” She smirked down at him, her hands on her hips waiting for his command.   
“Ummm well I guess we head back to my tribe. Got to warn them of what I…” before he could finish his sentence a loud cackle cut him off. Runus spun to look for the source of the noise and his heart went cold when he saw what had made it.   
Three Gnolls were hurrying down the hill towards them. The huge beast snarled and let out yelps while rushing towards Runus and Astrid. Each one had a crude weapon in hand. Runus could handle one or two but three was a problem. He didn’t know if he could fight them and protect Astrid.   
“Well, they look like trouble. Shall we take care of them then?” Astrid asked while hopping down off the back of the wagon.   
“I rather get out of here. Three Gnolls is more than I think I can handle. Maybe one or two but three. I think we should try to escape while we can.” Runus gripped his iron battle-ax. He knew outrunning the Gnolls would be hard but no impossible.   
“Runaway? Where is the fun in that.” Without a seconded word, Astrid ran past Runus, pulling his battle-ax out of his hands with ease. She charged forward with such speed and grace as if rough terrain wasn’t even there. Within seconds she had reached the first Gnoll. The beast raised his rusted sword to strike at her but before his hand could strike Astrid spun the ax around and embedded the blade into the monster’s neck. It let out a short yelp before falling over dead.   
Runus just stood there in complete shock. She had killed the gnoll like it was nothing and the other two Gnolls seem to be in shock as well. Astrid though didn’t give them a chance to recover. She spun around grabbing the fallen rusted sword and flung it at one of the other gnolls. It sank in halfway into its chest, causing the gnoll to fall onto its back. As the other Gnoll watched his comrade fall Astrid quickly dashed over and with one hard swing, she separated the gnoll from his torso. It hadn’t even been a minute and the battle was over. Astrid with a smug look on her face turn to Runus while offering a big grin  
“See that wasn’t hard. Thank you for letting me use your weapon master, it’s a good ax.” She strolled back towards him, small patches of blood were splattered across her arms and legs.   
“No problem,” Runus spoke while still in shock. She killed all three of the Gnolls without breaking a sweat. Just who was Astrid and how in gods was she able to fight so well. He would have to find out quickly before he brought her back to the tribe.


	2. Ice Mage Elsa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Runus and Astrid team up with another Runic Master to explore a dungeon.

(Notes: add more atmosphere to the story. Smells, sounds, details.) 

“Runus open this door quickly and be quick about it. I do not wish to spend any more time waiting than I have to”   
Runus breathed a sigh but made his way over to the onyx stone door. He didn’t mind doing heavy lifting or helping out but it annoyed him how Brenden kept ordering him around like he was a slave or personal servant. Still, it wasn’t like he could refuse. He wanted to see what sort of treasure this old dungeon was hiding and having a Wizard to help read ancient writing and disarm magical traps was a huge help even if he was a huge prick at times.   
Placing his hands on the old onyx stone door he pushed against it with all his strength. Slowly it began to slide in, the stone grinding against the floor while a breeze of stale dusty air washed over him. It smelled like musty clothes that had been soaked and left in a hole for years.   
“There it’s open.” He huffed before standing upright. He took a step back, trying to peer into the darkroom.  
“Good move aside so I can see what is in there.” Brenden barked, pushing past Runus before slipping into the newly open room. His long brown hair and dark blue robes whipping around as he hurried. “Come along Elsa.” He called out.   
Runus stepped aside to give Elsa room to enter. Like Astrid, she also was a Runic. She was dressed in an eye-catching revealing outfit. An icy blue one-piece with gold designs that went up to her full breast. It had sheer frills along the sides with a patch in the middle that showed off her belly button. She had on sheer stocking and shoulder-length gloves. Two decorative shoulder pads graced her shoulder and she wore a classic pointed wizard hat upon her braided platinum hair. She had a staff in hand that had icy blue runes carved into it. Her ice-blue eyes sparkled while passing him, offering him an apologetic smile as she hurried to catch up with her master.   
“Geeze you think a Noble mage like him would be able to speak politely,” Astrid grumbled aloud. She walking over to Runus to pat him on the back. “So ready to follow after them?”   
Runus glanced at his partner. Astrid was dressed in an assortment of furs and leather, giving her some decent protection but still made her look amazing as always. She had a large iron battle-ax in hand and her own blue eyes shined with excitement while pushing her golden braid behind her shoulder. He still couldn’t understand how he got so lucky to have her as his Runic.   
“Yeah let’s go. If we wait any longer Brenden will be shouting at us to move our dumb asses.”   
“Uhhhggg can’t believe the guild paired us up with him. It’s bad enough most of those noble pricks give us a hard time but now we have to deal with a magical prick.” Astrid huffed while placing her ax over her shoulder.  
“It could be worse. His Runic is at least nice and not rude like her master.” Runus remarked while looking ahead and spotting Elsa a few meters ahead of them, her cute ass shaking with each step. He couldn’t help but admire her cute ass, watching as a bead of sweat drip down the right cheek.  
“Doesn’t hurt she is easy on the eyes ehe Runus?” Astrid gave him a playful punch in the arm.   
Runus felt his cheeks go red. Astrid loved to tease him when he stared at other women. “Geeze Astrid you know you’ll always be my number one.”   
“Oh I know its just fun to see you blush is all and nothing wrong with having a number two gal” Sticking her tongue out at him Astrid quickens her pace before throwing him a wink.   
“Cheeky.” Runus hurried after her. 

After a few minutes of walking down the dark tunnel, Runus stepped into a huge cavern that had been transformed into some sort of temple. In the middle of the temple, a bright blue ball of light illuminated the whole place, revealing how massive the hidden temple was while bathing the place in an eerie glow. The whole place must have been two hundred feet long, with chiseled smoothed walls that bore markings and pictures in them. Three thick massive smooth stone columns were running along both sides of the room, reaching all the way to the ceiling and no doubt supporting the whole place. The ground was as smooth as the walls, but it was littered with dust, small bones, and cobwebs. In the center of the room was a large stone circle that must have been 5 feet wide and rose out of the ground by afoot. There was a carved picture of what looked like a Boar’s head. Glancing up he could see a similar stone circle on the ceiling as well but it had a carved picture of some sort of bird. Looking across to the other side there were no other doors or passages that he could see.   
“Did we take a wrong turn?” He questioned aloud while pushing a few bones out of the way with his boot.   
“Of course not you savage. This is the room we’ve been looking for. There must be some sort of secret switch that we need to flip or such. Fan out and look around but don’t touch anything before I look at it. I don’t need you going around activating traps.”Brenden barked while making his way over to one of the columns.   
Runus rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Brenden was pissing him off with each passing minute. He could not wait to be rid of him once they returned to the guild.   
“Hey I think I found something,” Astrid shouted out. She was facing the west wall and staring at something on it.   
“Move over,” Brenden hurried over, shoving Astrid to the side while Elsa followed behind him. He brushed his hand over the wall, removing the layer of dust and cobwebs from it until carved writing could be seen. He paused for a moment while staring at it.  
“Hmmm, interesting. It seems the maker of this little dungeon was also a Runic Holder like us. I can’t make out some of these words but he built this dungeon to test other Runic holders to see if they were worthy of claiming the treasure he sealed in here.”   
Runus’s brows raised at the mention of treasure. “So we got to do some sort of challenge then?”   
“Yes, so it seems. Some sort of challenge to prove we are Runic Masters. I wonder...hmmm Elsa place your hand here.”   
“Yes, master.” Elsa placed the palm of her hand on a stone marking that looked like a boney snake thing. The moment she touched it the markings on the wall began to glow an eerie green color. She took a step back from it. The sound of stone grinding could be heard above them. Elsa glanced up and gasped softly.   
Runus followed her gaze and watched at the stone circle on the ceiling began to slide open revealing a large hole in the middle of it. There was a loud click and the stone stopped. For a moment nothing happened but then several dark pointed limbs began to slide out of the hole, each one as long as a spear.   
Runus could feel his blood turn cold at the sight. “Oh, fuck...is that a..”   
“A Void Centipede.” Brenden nodded while watching the huge corrupted bug crawl out of the hole. It looked like a centipede but its body was covered in dark purple veins and it was as big as a merchants chart and as long as five horses. It had a stench of rotten meat and fruit coming off of it. It let out a hiss the moment it saw the group below it.   
“It seems it was sealed away to be used as a test. Our Runic’s will need to kill it for us to gain access to the treasure. We should move away and let them handle it.” Brenden spoke while already moving back towards the entrance.   
“Hey what do you mean to let them handle it? We got to fight as well. That thing is huge. No way Astrid and Elsa can fight it alone.”   
“It’s their job as Runic’s. We can’t kill it but they can. No point in wasting our energy or magic when they can do it themselves.”   
Runus could feel the rage bubbling inside him now. “Listen you noble prick we made not be able to kill it ourselves but we can wound it and help the girls take it down. The faster we take care of it the quicker we can get the treasure.”   
“And waste my remaining magic? Forgive me for not being a complete fool like you but I refuse to act like some simple-minded savage.”   
Runus couldn’t take it anymore. He turned away from Brenden and hurried over to Astrid and Elsa. He could feel that tingle of magic surging through him as he rage began to boil inside him.   
“Not yet. Can’t lose control yet,” he mutters to himself.   
He quickly hurried to Astrid’s side, pulling out his own great ax. Astrid smiled while glancing at him while preparing for the battle. “Glad to see you decided to join in on the fun. I take it our magical friend is sitting this one out.”  
“Looks that way. It’s just the three of us. Think we can kill this fucker?”   
“Ha do you even need to ask?” Astrid spun her ax in hand, her eyes were focused on the monster. The beasted let out another hiss before lunging at the trio, slamming his large fangs into the stone floor. Luckily all three were able to dodge in time and with a loud battle cry, Astrid leaped forward, slamming her ax head into the creature’s head.  
“WACK!” The ax bounced off the thick chitin, only making a slight dent in it.   
“Fuck this bug is tough!” Astrid exclaimed. She moved back as the creature raised its head only for it to be slammed with a shard of ice.   
Runus glanced over and saw Elsa summoning ice shards from her staff, they slowly formed in the air before she sent them flying through the air. They impacted the monster but they only seemed to chip and scratch at the monster's chitin plate. The monster let out another hiss and lunged for Elsa. Runus quickly smashed his ax into the monster’s side, sliding between the plates and feeling his blade sink into the beast’s flesh. The monster screamed in what sounded like pain, stopping in its attack and glaring back at Runus.   
“Try to keep its attention a bit longer please,” Elsa shouted out while her staff began to glow icy blue lighting up the dimly lit room more.   
“You hear her Astrid. Let’s give her the time she needs.” Runus let out a shout as he pushed into the huge bug, pushing his ax into the same spot harder now, feeling the blade dig in deeper. He watched as thick purple slime gushed from its wound. The monster screamed and went to attack him but Astrid moved in to intercept the attack, deflecting it with her own swing of her ax.   
SMACK! The pair bounced back from each other's attacks. The monster reels its head back while Astrid slides back to Runus.  
“Right behind you Master.” Astrid let out a little laugh. She was enjoying the thrill of battle. She bashes her weapon against the creature’s face again, pushing it away from Runus. The creature hissed once more and lunged forward but before it could reach Astrid several huge ice spears shout out of the ground. The sound of ice cracking in the air echo around them before sinking through the creature's soft underbelly with a sickening spat. The monster let out an ear-piercing scream of agony and death before the ice spears broke off with a snap and the monster fell to the ground with an earth-shaking thud. The beast hissed once more before falling silent. The room fell silent as the monster’s body twitched a few times before stopping altogether.   
“Nice work Elsa!” Astrid cheered while letting out a hoot in victory. Runus looked to see Elsa slowly standing up, pulling her staff out of the ground. She looked worn down, no doubt the spell she used a lot of magic and energy. Runus smiled at her before he backed away from the monster, pulling his ax out of the beast and watching the Void Centipede slowly dissolve into a cloud of thick black sparkling dust that settled on the ground. He said nothing as two small orbs of light rose out of the beast and shot into Elsa and Astrid. He had seen this before of course. When Astrid killed the Void Gnoll back in his homeland. With each Void beast that a Runic killed it gained a bit of power from them. It seems if more than one Runic killed a Void beast the power was shared between them.   
“Finally took you three long enough,” Brenden grumbled. He strolled over to Elsa and glanced at her over. “Looks like you finally mastered that spell. Good, that will come in handy later in our travels. Come let’s see what sort of treasure this creature was protecting.” without another word Brenden walked over to the center of the room.   
“Fucker...could have helped us.” Astrid spat a bit of blood on the ground.   
“You ok though?” Runus asked while looking her over. She had a few cuts and some blood streaks but for the most part, looked alright.   
“I’m fine. Nothing that a long rest can’t fix. So ready to see what sort of treasure is waiting for us?” She grinned while hurrying over to where Brenden was. Her body was shaking still from the battle.   
Runus nodded and followed her. He glanced over and saw Elsa and Brenden over by the stone circle that was on the floor. Though now it was opened as well. Runus wondered if it opened up when the Void Centipede was released or after it was killed. It didn’t really matter now though for he could see something sparkling in the hole.  
“So what great treasure did this cursed tomb leave us?” He grunted while walking over to the pair.   
“Huh oh yes well let’s see piles of gold, some minor magical items, a few potion bottles and something that only a great mage like myself could find uses in. A magical scroll.” he lifted up a rolled up piece of a scroll in his hand before tucking it away into his robes. “Can you put the rest of this into your bag of holding? It would be a pain to have to shove it into my own.”   
Runus huffed but was not in the mood to argue. He walked past Brenden to the pile of gold that lay all over the ground. He knelt and began to shove handfuls of coins into his bag of holding. He saw Astrid out of the corner of his eyes join him and help him shove the piles into their bag.   
Maybe it was due to the post-battle or that he was busy shoving gold into his bag that Runus didn’t notice Brenden muttering to himself. Before he knew what was happening Astrid shoved him hard to the side while shouting out to him. “MASTER LOOK OUT!”   
The moment she said it a huge hot blast of fire roared over Runus and the stone floor he had been kneeling over. His skin burned white-hot as the blast sent him rolling along the ground. The moment he stopped he glancing up he could see Brenden and Elsa looking at him  
“Blast. I thought that would be enough to kill you both. Why must brutes like you be so hard to kill.” He lifted up his hand once more, another ball of fire forming in his hand. Before Runus could speak out he sent it flying at him. Runus didn’t have time to react but then suddenly Astrid jumped in front of it. The fireball washed over her in a huge wave of fire but she didn’t cry out in pain or was even thrown back. In fact, her body seems to glow before him.   
“TRY IT AGAIN I DARE YOU!” She screamed at Brenden. She glanced back at Runus. “Are you ok Master?”   
Runus was shocked. Astrid was standing there before him but her whole body looked like it had been bathed in a blacksmith’s forge. Her fur and leather armor had been burned away leaving her in nothing but her undergarments. Her once pale skin was now a glowing bronze color, her golden hair now burned with yellow, white, and orange flames. Her sapphire eyes now burned bright blue and her veins under her skin looked to be filled with hot lava. She looked like a mini fire giant right now.   
“I’m ok Astrid” He slowly rose to his feet, the swell of anger now taking hold of him. He glanced over at Brenden and glared at the man.“Fucking hell Brenden! I’m going to bury my ax into you!”   
“So I guess your Runic has special powers as well. No matter you’ll die soon enough. Elsa, I order you to kill him. Spare the woman if you can but if not no worries. Just make sure to gather up their treasure in the end.” Brenden moved back while Elsa moved ahead. She looked conflicted but she did as she was commanded. Runus watched as several ice shards formed in the air and shot towards him and Astrid. In that split moment, he could feel that raging surge of power roar inside him, demanding to be let loose. This time though he did not resist. His eyes burned green and in an instant, he vanished from her sight.   
“What the!?! Where...Where is he?” Brenden shouted out as he quickly scans the room.   
ARRRGGG” The ice shards slammed into Astrid, exploding on contact but that didn’t stop her. Astrid rushed towards Elsa, raising her ax to prepare to strike. The ice Mage panicked and fired off another round of ice shards at Astrid. Several of them impacted her but the moment they touched her burning body they exploded outward from her once more. Elsa seemed even more confused now and tried to summon a wall of ice to keep Astrid away from her. However, the moment’s Astrid’s white-hot blade sliced into the ice wall the whole thing exploded, sending the two women flying back against the walls in a thunderous blast   
“Fuck!” Brenden shouted, unable to see what was going on from the cloud of mist and dust that flooded the room. His head darting around, trying to peer through it all. “Where the hell is he?”   
“Right here, bastard!” Runus shouted as he suddenly appeared behind Brenden. He didn’t know how he did it. One moment he was behind Astrid and the next he was behind Brenden. He wasn’t going to question it right now though. He swung his ax at the man. Brenden’s eyes went wide in shock and horror, his face twisting while trying to think of a means of escape. He waved his hand up, summoning a bright blue magical barrier before him but Runus easily sliced through it. He stumbled backward, his hands summoning a fire lance but before he could throw it Runus suddenly disappeared again.  
“Impossible! How are you doing this!?” Brenden stumbled while trying to run for the tunnel to escape. He panted heavily while hurrying for the exit. Not care about if Elsa or the treasure now. As he got to the entrance of the tunnel Runus suddenly appeared again in front of him in a flash of green light.   
“Die you fucker!” Unleashing all the anger he had for Brenden he slammed his ax into Brenden’s shoulder, the blade going halfway into the man’s body, slicing through muscles and bone. Brenden gasped, blood spurting up from his mouth while looking completely shocked by what had happened. His face goes pale while his body begins to shake. He tries to reach for the ax but his body slowly fails him. He falls to his knees, blood pouring out of the gaping wound in his chest. He tried to speak but could no longer say a word. He glances up once more before falling over dead on the spot.   
“Fucking mage.” Runus gasped, he pulled his ax out of Brenden, wobbling on his feet as the magical rush faded from him. He felt sick to his stomach from teleporting around the room. He had no idea how he did it but somehow it had saved his life.   
Runus glances over the partly destroyed tomb. Chunks of stone and ice litter the ground. He could see Astrid’s body sprawled out on the ground. He rushes to her, scooping up her head to see if she was breathing. Her body has returned back to normal now and he could hear her breathing. A wave of relief washed over as he saw her eyes flutter open before smiling at him.   
“Master. Glad to see you’re not dead yet. I take it we won?”   
Runus chuckled a little. “We did. All thanks to you and that power of yours. Though you’ll need a new ax.” he glanced down at her weapon, the ax head had melted and pooled onto the stone floor and fused with it. Even the wooden handle had been burned away and turned to ash.   
“Fuck...couldn’t be helped I guess. What about Elsa? Where is she?” Astrid sat up and looked around. She nodded to the left far wall. “Over there.”   
Runus helped Astrid to her feet and the pair made their way over to the ice mage. Elsa was laying on the ground, her body covered in pebbles and dust. Her outfit was torn and exposing parts of her body. Her hat was ruined and the head of her staff had been snapped off. She lay there but still drew breath into her unconscious body   
“So what do we do with her?” Runus asked while glancing at Astrid.   
“Well she is alive so you should claim her. Make her your new Runic.”   
“Wait...seriously? What if she tries to kill us again?”   
“She won’t or more like can’t once you claim her. She is a Runic and has to obey the orders of her master. Since her old master is dead she will obey whoever claims her and becomes her new master.” Astrid dug into the bag of holding and pulled out an iron collar with a chain attached to it. “Place this around her neck. Until your magic takes hold she may try to resist or others may try to claim her. Got to show everyone she belongs to you now.”   
Runus felt odd taking the iron collar but he trusted Astrid. She knew more about Runic’s than he did so he did as he was told and placed the collar around Elsa. Once the collar was secured Elsa began to wake.   
“Owww oh oww my head.” She moans while sitting up. She looked around before gasping once she felt the collar around her neck. She looked to Runus then Astrid before looking at the collar again.   
“Ohhhh. Is...is he dead then or did he...?”   
“He’s dead.” Runus cut through her sentence “I killed him myself. Tell me Elsa why did he try to kill us?”  
“My master...I mean Sir Brenden did not like to share the treasure with anyone. He would make others do the fighting and once they were tired he would kill them and claim they died during the quest by the hands of a monster or bandits.” She glances down at herself, trying to cover up her body with her hands. She had a look of shame on her face.  
“I see.” Runus glanced back at the dead body of Brenden. He felt no regret over killing him but now felt pride that he had rid the world of a piece of shit like him. He turned back to Elsa, hosting her up onto her feet. “You will serve me now. I will be your new master. I don’t care if you're happy with this or not but I promise that if you serve me well and help me in my quest then I will treat you fairly and protect you.” He looks down at her, seeing a look of fear and confusion in her eyes.   
“He is not lying. He’s a good master and one who looks after his Runic’s. You’re in good hands now Elsa.” Astrid chimed in while smiling a little. “Though I don't think I will forgive you so quickly. You’re going to have to work hard if you want to be out of those chains.” She tugs on the chain a bit to get her message across.   
Elsa looked at the pair before glancing at her collar. She was silent for a moment, tears running down her cheeks before whipping them away. She looked to Runus, offering up a small smile. “Yes, Master. I promise that I won’t let you down. I will serve you and help in any way that I can.”


End file.
